New York - Satmar Feud Spills Into Court

New York - Two days after the death of the late Grand Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, the 91-year-old leader of as many as 120,000 Satmar Hasidim worldwide, 11 lawyers lined up in an Orange County courtroom to debate who should have access to Satmar sites during the Shiva, and which court should decide that issue.

The upshot was that acting state Supreme Court Justice Stewart Rosenwasser won't be the one to decide. He told the attorneys that the Appellate Division - which is hearing appeals of two Satmar cases - has instructed him to direct the latest volley of arguments to its courtrooms.

On Monday night, an hour and a half after Teitelbaum died in a Manhattan hospital, Rosenwasser had signed orders in a Montgomery diner that dealt with those suddenly pressing access issues. But the following afternoon, an Appellate Division judge struck down much of what he had ordered.